Staff

John R. Petruszak, Executive Director
John is an Illinois licensed attorney who has worked in fair housing and civil rights professionally for the last thirty-two years. He originally served as the SSHC staff attorney and Compliance Program Coordinator from 1981-85, practiced law privately from 1985-89, and then served as a senior staff attorney with the Illinois Department of Human Rights’ Legal Division from 1989-95. In 1995, John returned to SSHC to become its Executive Director. He has been a fair housing law presenter at seminars conducted by the John Marshall Law School, Illinois Association of Realtors, Illinois Municipal Human Rights Workers Association, Illinois Department of Human Rights, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance and NAACP.

In 1998, John testified before a U.S. House Budget Housing Subcommittee regarding evidence of FHA mortgage product steering by race in the Chicago area. He represented SSHC at the September 2012 White House conference convened to provide community group input on resolutions for the foreclosure crisis. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Washington DC-based National Fair Housing Alliance for the past eight years and was the Chairman of NFHA’s National Enforcement Advisory Committee for three years. He has been a member of the board of Housing Choice Partners of Illinois, a mobility counseling organization assisting Chicago area Section 8 subsidized families since 1995. He is a past President and current Director of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance’s board.

Leslie C. Woods, Lending & Systemic Investigation Coordinator
Leslie Woods has been the lead testing coordinator and more recently the coordinator of systemic investigations for SSHC’s Fair Housing Enforcement program for the last 24 years, making her one of the most experienced fair housing investigators in the country. During her tenure with SSHC she has been responsible for recruiting and training over 400 volunteer testers. She coordinated the testing investigations leading to federal court action settlements in SSHC v. Forest Hills Management ($450,000 damage award), Howard v. Zoberman, ($114,000 damage award), and the Wooton v. Timmons, HUD Administrative Law Judge decision awarding $78,000 in damages to the complainants for race discrimination violations of the Fair Housing Act, that have all received national attention. Woods has obtained extensive advanced training in sales, mortgage lending and insurance redlining testing procedures from the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and by the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington as a prerequisite for SSHC’s receipt of a contract to perform sales market testing for Justice in the 1990s.

She has been the project coordinator on four fair housing testing compliance contracts with NFHA and contracts with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing’s monitoring discrimination against Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) families by Chicago landlords. During the last two years, she has been SSHC’s lead systemic investigator in the Fair Housing Act complaints brought against national mortgage lenders for racial discrimination in the marketing and maintenance of abandoned foreclosed REO properties. One of these national complaints led to the 2013 settlement where Wells Fargo Bank paid $1.42 million to establish the SSHC administered Inclusive Community Grant Program providing assistance to mortgage distressed families in south suburbs.

Susan M. Reed, Testing & Outreach Coordinator
Susan joined the staff in June 2001 and currently serves as the Testing and Outreach Coordinator for SSHC. Susan is directly responsible for Education and Outreach activities, recruitment and training of fair housing testers, managing the testing and coordination process, as well as overseeing the day to day fair housing complaint intake functions conducted by SSHC staff. Susan also works closely with disability rights and Latino agencies to help support their education and outreach initiatives. In 2002, Susan attended Fair Housing School training conducted by the National Fair Housing Alliance held in Philadelphia.

Prior to joining the staff, Susan conducted tests for SSHC and four other Chicago area private enforcement agencies for seven years.

Russelyn L. Williams, Office Manager & Housing Counselor
Russelyn joined the SSHC staff in July 2006. She provides administrative and technical support for all of SSHC’s programs and is also a certified housing counselor. Russelyn’s primary responsibility is client oversight, ensuring that each client is referred and scheduled appropriately and timely. Additionally, Russelyn manages our client database to ensure accurate accounting and reporting of our activities.

Prior to joining SSHC, Russelyn received her Associates Degree in Office Administration and Technology from South Suburban College in 2005, where she also worked for three years as a receptionist and tutor in the Academic Assistance Center. She also worked for Robert Half International as an office assistant at several different sites. Since she has been employed with SSHC, she has completed the NeighborWorks foreclosure training and received certification for both the basic and intermediate levels. In December 2010, Russelyn received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Media Arts and Theatre from Chicago State University where she graduated as class valedictorian.

Rebecca Casanova, Foreclosure Counselor
Rebecca joined the SSHC staff in November 2010 as a foreclosure counselor to provide on-site support for the Cook County Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program. Rebecca is a bi-lingual HUD Certified Housing Counselor who provides one-on-one counseling with clients that are in default and facing foreclosure. Rebecca works closely with our Fair Lending Compliance Attorney assisting clients to prepare for and work through the foreclosure mediation program. Rebecca also works directly with clients and their lenders to help negotiate positive resolutions. Rebecca has received training and certification from the National Fair Housing Alliance, NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership training and the National Council of La Raza in foreclosure prevention. Rebecca has counseled over 200 families for SSHC through the foreclosure mediation program since joining the staff.

Rebecca is a seasoned, all-purpose housing counselor with over six years of rental, pre-purchase, mortgage default, and post-purchase counseling experience working for the Community Economic Development Association (CEDA) in Cook County. Prior to joining SSHC, Rebecca also worked as an Administrative Assistant for the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association in their Single Family Rehabilitation Program.

Derek T. Adkisson, Director of Finance & Operations
Derek joined the team in July 2013. As the Director of Finance & Operations, Derek is responsible for the accounting and financial functions of the organization, including monthly financial reports, grant expense reports, payroll, and budgets. Additionally, Derek is charged with developing and administering SSHC’s Inclusive Communities Fund, as well as implementing business process improvement initiatives to improve the overall efficiency, effectiveness, and capacity of the organization.

Prior to joining SSHC, Derek was employed by First Midwest Bank for nearly 15 years in various positions, including Direct Banking Sales Manager, Business Analyst and most recently as the Bank’s Fair Lending Officer, where he was directly responsible for the data collection, analysis, reporting and compliance of the Bank’s fair lending practices. Derek previously served on SSHC’s Board of Directors for 3 years and fulfilled the role of Treasurer during his last year.

Robert R Sanders II, Supervisory Counselor
Robert joined the South Suburban Housing Center (SSHC) staff in March 2015 as a supervisor to provide on-site support for the Cook County Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program. Robert is HUD Certified Housing Counselor who provides one-on-one counseling with clients that are in default and facing foreclosure. Robert works closely with our staff for leadership and guidance assisting clients to prepare for and work through the default and delinquency/foreclosure mediation program. Robert also works directly with clients and their lenders to help negotiate positive resolutions. Robert has received training and certifications from the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Homeownership Counseling, Foreclosure Intervention and Default Counseling, and Post-Purchase Homeownership Education to name a few. Robert has counseled families in Chicago and the South Suburbs for SSHC through various programs since joining the staff.

Robert is a seasoned, all-purpose housing counselor with over 9 years of mortgage default, foreclosure and post-purchase counseling experience across Cook and Will County. Prior to joining SSHC, Robert worked as a Work Director with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Foreclosure Department) and Partners in Community Building on Chicago’s Southside. He brings many years of experience to the South Suburban Housing Center.

Carrie Simpson, Outreach & Program Support Specialist
Carrie began her service year as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) in August 2015. Members of the VISTA program dedicate a year of full-time service to their country as volunteers with non-profit organizations, assisting with capacity-building efforts. After two years of volunteer service, Carrie was hired on to the team as full-time staff. Carrie dedicates her time to outreach initiatives such as the implementation of new and creative methods for maintaining communication with clients and partners, as well as directing the attention of new supporters. She is also tasked with resource development, data analysis and integrity, and research into new sources of funding.

Before joining South Suburban Housing Center, Carrie was a student at Oberlin College in northern Ohio. She graduated in the spring of 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Tonisha Brown, Housing Counselor Program Manager

Tonisha joined SSHC in September 2017 and has over 7 years of experience in the homebuying industry. She has developed curriculum, organized and executed successful foreclosure prevention, homebuyer education, and financial literacy workshops. She has helped over 500 clients discover their financial potential as they decided to become a homeowner. Her greatest achievement is her unyielding ability to be able to connect with clients because she has been on both sides of the table. She is also very passionate about giving back to the community and has educated 1023Chicago Public School K-12 students with her signature financial literacy 8-week workshop during the school year.

Prior to joining SSHC, Tonisha Brown was a mortgage loan officer at Associated Bank where she provided mortgage options that fit her clients’ homebuying needs. With her mortgage experience she is now better equipped to prepare families for homeownership.

She loves helping individuals and as a Housing Professional, she has learned what is important to her clients and that is honesty, integrity, great customer service, and understanding their needs.